The ballots are among 33 received after election day, and while the post office determined they were mailed before the election deadline, they lacked a postmark, as required by state law.

Democrat Kayla Koether filed an election contest after losing the House District 55 race by nine votes, but she says this isn't about losing. She says it's about making sure every vote counts.

"They mailed their ballots in on time and did everything by the law to have their vote valid and counted. And when we look at the laws, we see that the Iowa Code allows for ballots with intelligent mail barcodes to be counted and this legislative body has the choice to determine that these barcodes are intelligent enough to meet the burden of proof,” said Koether.